South Carolina Labor Laws and Employee Rights in South Carolina

by Keren P.

South Carolina Employment Law: What are Employment Laws in South Carolina?

Work days and hours in South Carolina

South Carolina State laws do not specify the working days of the week, and hence Federal laws would be applied and a total of 168 hours would be considered. Of the seven work days, it is mandatory to provide one work day off as rest for 24 hours. Special permission can be taken if employees voluntarily are ready to work without a break.

As per Federal laws, a total of 40 hours of work per week is classified as regular work hours. According to South Carolina laws, an employee must be given a break time for meals of at least 20 minutes. For more than 30 minutes break, payment is not required.

No minor is allowed to work in any hazardous or dangerous operations. Minors below 15 are not allowed to work during school hours. Minors below 16 are not permitted in manufacturing, constructions or a warehouse.

Leave laws in South Carolina

Sick leave: South Carolina laws do not require sick leave to be provided. An employer may do so as per the employment contract with the employee.

Vacation leave: South Carolina does not mandate paid or unpaid vacation benefits to be given to employees. They need to provide it only if they have committed to do so at the time of joining.

Holiday leave: There is no provision for holiday leave in South Carolina.

Jury duty leave: An employer is required to allow employees to go for jury duty, but is not required to grant consent.

Voting leaves: South Carolina does not have any requirement for voting leave to be provided for employees.

Work payment in South Carolina

The state requires that employees should be paid for all the hours they put in at work. This includes work they do at the employer's site and other locations. As South Carolina laws do not explicitly stipulate this, federal laws would be applicable.

Time for travel taken for any work for the employers benefit should also be considered in the work hours.

Regarding meeting, training and other such activities, South Carolina have no laws, and hence Federal law is applicable, which requires that this should be counted as a part of work hours.

Overtime needs to be paid at one and a half times regular pay if employees have to work over 40 hours a week. This is as per Federal law since South Carolina does not have requirements related to overtime.

Since South Carolina has no law on minimum wage, the minimum wage paid to employees as per Federal regulations, that is $7.25 per hour needs to be paid.

The minimum wage for employees who also receive tips is $2.13 per hour as Federal law.

At the time of joining, employees need to be given a wage notice with details of wages paid, time and place of payment, etc. Wage stubs must be provided every month to employees.

There is no law in South Carolina regarding the frequency of payment for employees. Hence, employers can pay as per the contract made between them and the employee.

Employees can be paid by cash or check (without deductions) or direct deposit.

Deductions from wages are permitted as per laws and related to shortages, damages, rent, uniform, etc.

Other issues

The workplace needs to be smoke-free.

Use of phones for texting while driving is not allowed.

While there are no provisions in the law for equal pay for men and women, there are provisions for non-discrimination of the basis of race, religion, colors, etc. Also, the law has stringent regulations ensuring employers provide facilities for pregnant women during work, including more breaks and a lighter workload.

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